


Green Snowbursts

by danausApollo



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Death, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Multi, Violence, i'll add more to this later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-14 15:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8019379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danausApollo/pseuds/danausApollo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Overwatch never existed. And somehow, a green cyborg lives on with scars and a painful addiction in a Korea that has seen more violence than it ever should have. But when the owner of the world's most prolific weapon's company approaches him for work and offers him the perfect reward, how can he say no?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To Wake

**Author's Note:**

> For now, this might be edited every once in a while and uploads will be heavily irregular. And a warning for the wise; If this is completed, it might be a miracle.

June 11, 2050

OVERWATCH REJECTED

-In a stunning turn of events, the Overwatch plan was shut down in the latest vote for the Overwatch plan. The United Kingdom, surprising the other members of the Security Council, vetoed the motion, citing fears of "a lack of supervision for members of a group without sovereignty and allegiance." While the other members of the Security Council heavily disagreed with the UK's decision, members of the anti-Overwatch groups in the UK and other countries breathed a sigh of relief.

In related news, the omnics have broken through the Chinese border, the combined forces of China and the United States proving to be unable to hold them back. Additional forces have been deployed, but projected losses are grim…

* * *

 

_“Genji!”_

Genji snapped awake, his heart racing and his head throbbing as he reached up to his face and grabbed at his mask. His fingers groped for the right buttons before they found purchase and he sent his mask flying away, bouncing off of the cratered drywall. He gulped down air frantically, his heartrate refusing to cooperate as he searched the floor around his mattress, laying eyes on a crumpled plastic bag of pills. Within a second and a pang of pain, he opened the bag and pulled out a white pill, hesitating for a moment with it between his fingers. He clenched his teeth before downing the pill and sitting with his head against his knees. He focused on his heartbeat, the sound of it filling his ears as it slowed and his head fell numb and quiet, his chest dropping in temperature. His teeth were gritted tight while his breathing fell slow and relaxed. A small whimper escaped his lips as the migraine had one final say before vanishing into a cloud of drugged stupor, as certain to rise again as the sun. In the final haze, he heard a voice, something familiar and painful and as bright as the morning sun.

_“Genji, I need you to be strong.”_

He gave his body a few seconds to cool down, a pair of exhausts on his shoulder hissing as he unfurled and looked around the room to take in his surroundings.

His mask lay a few inches away from the drywall, which bore a slight dent from the corner of the metal plate. The mattress was shoved against a wall under a window with a pillow and a blanket, the latter used only once in a while. Through the slats of the window shone a rainbow of colors, the spectrum moving like a living oil painting across his walls. It, combined with the sound of rain, cars, and advertisements, reminded him of the world that awaited him outside. Against one of his walls rested his wakizashi, sheathed and managed far better than its owner, and a set of shuriken.  Next to them sat a couple stacks of clothes, folded neatly, and an umbrella against the wall.

Genji reached under his pillow and pulled out a cell phone, flipping through messages and massaging the sides of his face by his eyes. Within a few seconds of having opened the app, a message caught his attention.

CF: meet for ramen? 10:30

The clock at the top read 9:00 AM. His reply came a few seconds later.

GJ: coming

CF: k

The rain began to pick up as he grabbed the umbrella and a set of clothes to wear around the town.

* * *

 

Even against the heavy rain, coming down in a deluge, the sound and smell of ramen was prominent. The ramen restaurant rested near the center of the market, surrounded by massive apartments and blasted with neon light that utilized nanobots to craft shifting, living signs and cast vibrant, swimming colors along the puddles on the ground. Tech stores had employees outside shouting their wares, ranging from the dubiously legal to the moderately illegal, while the other hawkers sat under what cover they could find with their merchandise strewn out about the ground for pedestrians to haggle for. Behind them, in the deepest corners, omnics huddled around fires, talking quietly and away from sight. While not hunted, the tension around them and unconscious avoidance was obvious.

Genji glanced under the short curtains of the restaurant, searching for someone before he stepped inside. His umbrella shielded him against the rain, but he also wore a dark green sweatshirt and a pair of khakis to keep his phone in. After finding his target, he walked in and put away his umbrella.

"Anyoung haseyo!" the cook shouted above the sound of cooking noodles and silverware clattering around. Genji raised a hand in acknowledgement before marching along the counter to stand behind a hunched over figure, slurping away at noodles. Their shaved head shone against the light from above, a couple of circular ports showing from under the collar of their shirt and glimmering from the rain.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, pointing to the chair next to the figure that was saddled with a small bag. Without turning to face him, the owner reached over and grabbed their bag, setting it on their lap and continuing to eat. Genji sat down and raised a finger before ordering from the chef.

"Got a job for you," the woman next to him said, chewing away before swallowing and setting her chopsticks down and wiping her mouth. She didn't continue to eat, but she remained hunched over the bowl as though she were about to, like a dog guarding its food.

"Who's it from?" A second after he finished the question, a bowl landed in front of him, its contents steaming and glistening with broth. Taking a second to thank the chef, he grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

"Can't say."

Genji snorted before taking off his face plate, setting it aside and beginning to eat.

"Then I'm not doing it."

"You're doing it."

"Then tell me more about who I'm doing it for," he said as his brow furrowed and as he slurped loudly. The ramen was delicious.

"No."

It wasn't that delicious.

"Then why the hell do I want to do it?"

"Because," she exhaled loudly. "You need to."

That gave Genji pause as she set her phone on the countertop between Genji and her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as he picked up the softboiled egg and ate it in one bite. As he waited for a response, he pulled his phone out and set it on top of hers. A small glint of light told them both the file transfer had begun.

"You'll know," she replied cryptically. She glanced quickly at the two phones before snapping her chopsticks at the last few noodles at the bottom of her bowl.

"Great." His sarcasm was thicker than the broth.

She set her bowl on top of the counter in front of her, wiping her mouth with a sleeve before getting up and pulling her phone out from under Genji's. As she set her bag on her shoulders, she paused a moment and set her hand on Genji's shoulder.

"Don't get killed."

"Fuck you too," Genji replied, slurping down a pair of noodles right after the words left his mouth.

"No, really." He raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. "Don't get killed."

She left, vanishing in the rapidly moving crowd.

Genji shook his head and finished his food.

* * *

 

Checking his phone after leaving the ramen stop told him to go to the underpass by the edge of the market. As he found himself standing alone at the mouth of a tunnel, through which half of the city buzzed through like ants on a mission, he looked around in search for someone who might be who he was looking for.

His eyes were cast across the street, falling on the face of an omnic, their hands clenched at their sides as they stared him down. His brow furrowed as he took in the robot, standing with their body mirroring him with only a plain white t-shirt and a dark blue set of pants. In their right hand, he saw what appeared to be a small chain of beads, dripping with water. The dots atop the omnic's forehead were masked by a bandana, but the dim light shone under the cloth, casting a blue tint on their face.

Genji watched them carefully, almost drawn in by their stare. Words flashed through his head once again as his vision swam for a second, a calm voice with the sound of knowledge beyond its years.

_“Open your mind.”_

A car honk abruptly broke his concentration as a taxi pulled up against the curb in front of him.

"Hello sir!" the driver chirped, their face masked by a pair of sunglasses. "Care for a ride?"

Genji looked back up for the omnic, but couldn't find them in the rain and the cars whizzing by.

"No thank you," he said, drawing his attention back to the driver.

"Are you sure, sir? We are having a special offer right now if you get in."

He stared at the driver, whose face was only smiles and an almost sickly cheeriness. After a second, the gears in his mind clicked and, with one last glance around, he nodded.

"Fine." He opened the car door and got into the back, closing his umbrella and setting it at his feet. Just as he rested his head against the cushion of the car, noting how comfortable it felt after standing in the rain, the car took off, accelerating directly into traffic as a hot wave of air hit Genji. His clothes began to dry immediately, but he was more concerned with the speed at which the car was flying across the road, the driver silently smiling as he maneuvered through the traffic as though he were driving through a set of traffic cones at fifty miles per hour, except in reality, he was going sixty miles per hour and he was weaving around cars instead of cones.

"Where are we-"

"One moment, sir!" the driver said, pulling off to the side of the road in the tunnel into a maintenance lane and stopping dead. Genji braced himself on the back of the chair in front of him as the deceleration had its way on him via the laws of physics. His driver turned around and beamed wide, his teeth shining like a set of pearls against the yellow light of the tunnel. "Please scoot over, sir." He gestured with his hands to send Genji to the left seat, leaving the right seat open.

The driver turned to the window at his right and knocked on it before turning back and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

The right passenger door opened, letting in a gust of cold air, or what seemed cold against the interior of the car. A large shadow filled the entrance, wearing a suit and a tie. The woman, or what seemed to Genji to be a human woman, got inside and pulled the door closed before grunting to the driver and setting their head back against the seat. Her short pink hair was cut close on the sides of her head, framing a sharp x-shaped scar above her right eye.

Genji's back immediately straightened as he realized whose presence he had just entered.

"You are Genji Shimada?" Aleksandra Zaryanova asked, folding her hands in her lap.

"Yes." Genji had nothing else to say. He couldn't think of anything to say as he stared down the owner of one of the most prolific and respected weapons companies in the world.

"You know who I am." She paused for a moment. "Call me Zarya, please." The words left her lips like a practiced response, something that seemed to have been repeated several times in her life.

"Of course." Again, nothing to say. Although he felt that it might have been appropriate to note how easily Zarya could have crushed him if she reached over and set her hands around his head. Her muscles, which she'd initially grown famous for, didn't look as threatening as they did in the old news shows; They looked magnitudes more terrifying.

"I have a job for you." She turned to him and locked eyes with him. Some time between Zarya grunting and Genji regaining coherent thought about Zarya's lethality, the car had reaccelerated to sixty, although Genji couldn't figure out where they were driving. "I need you to infiltrate the Vishkar building in Beijing."

If Genji wasn't confused initially, he was baffled now.

"The Vishkar building?" he repeated, his head starting to swim as he tried to bring his concentration back into focus. He wasn't sure whether it was the heat, his drugs, or the idea of infiltrating the building that stunned him. On second thought, the heat was gone, he noticed, probably to accommodate for the new occupant.

"Yes. You will infiltrate, destroy their server, and probably the whole building." If Zarya's face wasn't as straightlaced as a corset, he would have broken out into a laugh. As is, he settled for leaning slightly forward and putting a hand on his head. The heat was still there, he lamented, except now it was rising deep in his chest.

"That's ridiculous," he objected. "Vishkar has top level security, there's no way I'm getting into the building, let alone into their servers."

"People said it was ridiculous for woman to head the weapons management of a company." Zarya brought her arm up to rest on the side of the car door as she looked out the window to idly keep an eye on traffic. "They also said it was ridiculous for woman to break weightlifting records while owning a company." She shrugged. "Not so ridiculous."

"Why do you want me to do this?" Genji asked, taking deep breaths as he began to regain focus. The buzz in the back of his head threatened to pull him further, but in such a significant meeting, he willed it away and turned his attention back to his potential employer.

"My informants say Vishkar is working on an artificial inteligence project," Zarya explained. "It was not concerning; nowadays, everyone is conducting artificial intelligence research of some kind to understand the omnics better. However, it seems that they have succeeded in creating a program that could potentially control all omnics in a given area."

Genji raised an eyebrow as he looked outside at the streets, filled with humans and dotted with omnics as they flew by at a breakneck pace. Each omnic had their own mind, he knew that. The concept of them being controlled by one figure, used for war in unison was....

He shivered at the thought before turning back to Zarya.

"They have not started to use it, it is still being completed. Before they do, I want you to break into the building and fry their servers to remove all traces of it. Then, blow up the building to ensure nothing survives." Zarya spoke as a matter of fact, as though the job was certain to be done and that there was no doubt that Genji would take the job.

"And how do you expect me to do that?" Genji asked, leaning forward and setting his arms on his knees. In his mind, he understood the why, but the how still tripped him up.

"Will you take the job?" Zarya looked out the window absently, her attention thrown elsewhere purposefully. With question time for the mission over, Genji turned his attention to the more significant question.

"What are you paying me to do this?" he countered.

"One trillion yen." Zarya seemed almost bored with the suggestion.

"No," Genji responded almost immediately. "It's too dangerous for that. I'm not sure there's any sum of money I could pull it off for."

"Then I will give you something that no one else can," Zarya grinned. She looked Genji in the eye. "I knew you wouldn't take the money."

"And what is that?" Genji's head throbbed once more, the only sign of the pain being his tightly clenched fists, but Zarya took notice as she turned away from him.

"Headaches?" she asked.

"Just a mild illness," he lied.

"Your mind still rejects your body, then."

Genji froze.

"How do you know that?" he asked, looking out the window as well as the headache passed slowly and painfully.

"I have read Dr. Ziegler's notes," she explained.

“Those notes were destroyed.”

His vision blurred for a second.

_“Mr. Shimada, we need you to walk, the omnics have arrived.”_

_“Ziegler, get down!”_

The embers were growing.

“In the raid that claimed the lives of the doctor and Jack Morrison? Not quite.” Zarya’s face turned grim. “The building was more reinforced than the omnics expected. My people swept the area after they had left and found the notes. Singed, but not destroyed.”

Genji’s eyes began to water as he felt his body ache as old scars and burns acted up once more.

“Then yes,” he spat, dropping a layer of professionalism. “You are correct.”

“I can fix that.”

“How?”

_“This is your new body,” she said softly, resting a hand on his back as he sobbed into his metal arms._

“I can give you a new body,” she insisted, turning on him and looking him dead in the eye. “One of flesh.”

Genji lost all tension in his body as his mind turned completely blank.

“I have a more than hefty R&D department. With Ziegler’s notes, my doctors that it is possible to create you a body that can house you in a much more organic way than you are currently,” she explained. “It would take time. But likely no longer than it would take for you to finish the job.” Tapping the back of the driver’s chair with one of her hefty arms, she said something in Russian, which the driver nodded, smiled, and drove onward with.

“That’s impossible,” Genji said weakly, his mind slowly beginning to catch up with what his new employer had just said “You lie.”

“But you don’t have a choice,” she murmured softly, her words clear over the faint hum of the road gliding underneath them. “I say I, and I alone, can give you this. So you have no choice but to try.”

Genji gritted his teeth, a flood of emotions hitting him wildly. It sounded…. Reasonable. But inside, he knew that whether or not she was telling the truth, she was right. He had no choice but to try, or else he would remember this moment as the time when he rejected his one chance to be human again.

His one chance to be himself.

Defeated, he turned to her and slowly nodded, the movement feeling robotic in his neck as he exhaled loudly.

“Where do we start?”

Zarya grinned and turned back to the driver.

“To Seoul. We can start there.”


	2. To Erupt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick author's note: I realized that a more proper term for Genji's side weapon would be a Wakizashi, not a Kodachi, so I edited it out on the previous chapter.

They didn’t go to Seoul first. Instead, the car quickly pulled up to Genji’s apartment, letting the two of them out to get his things.

Upon reentering his room, Genji found himself deeply self conscious of the desolate and empty room he’d found himself in as Zarya marched in. With the suited woman around, his home somehow felt even less furnished than previously. And he’d thought it was impossible.

“I apologize for the state of the place,” he said, deftly picking up his bag of drugs and stuffing them into his coat pocket in an attempt to hide them. Unfortunately for him, Zarya noticed already.

“That’s your method of keeping the headaches away?” she raised an eyebrow as she spoke. “Snowbursts?”

“They work,” he muttered, hooking his shuriken into his arms and latching his wakizashi on his hip. “Are we ready?”

“Do you have any other clothes?”

“No need. I don’t actually need to wear these. I just choose to.” After the words had left his mouth, he had the strange feeling he shouldn’t have said anything.

“I see.” Zarya’s face was unreadable.

With that, they were in the car and on the highway within seconds of hair raising driving. In the silence, the bright blue and green lights of the city whizzing by in the window in a way that Genji never thought he’d see, he felt divinely alone as he shrank back into his seat. Glancing over at his employer, his chest caved with a yearning to fill in the silence.

“The apartment was the only thing I could afford,” he said, feigning a casual demeanor as he propped his elbow on the side of the car door. “My occupation doesn’t pay well nowadays.”

“Everyone starts somewhere,” Zarya replied, and as Genji glanced into her firm eyes, he knew she was speaking with the conviction of someone who had learned this lesson the hard way. But as she turned towards him, that conviction faded into something else. Concern.

“Do I need to get you your fix?”

Startled, Genji debated answering.

“I need you operating at your best,” Zarya asserted. “I’ll do it if I have to.”

Genji tried to recall the number of pills he had left in his bag before frowning and pulling the bag out in defeat. With a quick ballpark estimate, he avoided her gaze and answered with a question of his own.

“How long do you expect this to take?”

“At least a week.”

He clicked his tongue before turning back outside.

“I’ll need more.” A pause. “I can pay.” _Somehow._

“I’m employing you. Consider it a gesture of faith,” she insisted. Before he could say anything, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, typing out a text before hesitating. “How many do you need?”

Genji’s face burned as he winced by a flash of light from a streetlight that, for an instant, looked remarkably like the harsh light of an operating room.

_“Grit your teeth kid. This is gonna hurt.”_

_“Jack, keep talking to him. We’re losing him.” He could hear the clatter of metal. “And hold him down. This is gonna hurt.”_

_“Got him. Hey, kid, look at me. What’s your name?”_

He cracked open the bag as his heart started racing and the embers in his chest turned into the flicker of a candle. With a quick pop of a pill, he felt his mind embrace the frigid cold and his chest be doused in frost.

“Fifteen pills should do it.”

Zarya finished off the text.

“It’ll be ready when we arrive.”

The rest of the car ride was full of a labored silence.

* * *

 

Some hours later and after a short nap, Genji looked out the window as they flew across a highway.

Seoul.

Buildings grew out of the ground like monoliths of metal and light, filling the span before him like a sea of life. It was a far departure from the run down, neon city he was used to, where the streets were cast in scrap metal and the desperate. As he drew his eyes upward along the skyline, the buildings seemed to glisten like stars, lights twinkling in his eyes like the young adult he was. The city seemed endless, stretching far to the horizon in a way that filled him with wonder and, somewhere deep in his gut, a sense of excitement. The sound of cars being passed filled his ears, but it was all white noise as his lips curved upward in a very soft smile.

“You’re awake,” Zarya mumbled from behind him, occupied with running a company as she stared at her phone.

“How much longer is the drive?” he asked, stretching his arms and neck to get out the kinks from napping in a car.

“Not long. Do you see the large black building in the distance?” She pointed out Genji’s side. Following her gaze as best he could, he spotted the black tower a good distance away. It looked remarkably modern among the other structures, with a sleek mirror black finish. It reminded Genji of a large pillar of obsidian, with a sharp slash diagonally near its top, leaving a point at its apex.

“Is that yours?”

“It’s a general building, but we hold several offices in it,” she shrugged. “But under the table, I hold the basement and that’s where we’re going.”

“The whole thing under Zaryanova Weapons?” Genji raised an eyebrow, a motion she couldn’t see but she inferred from his voice as she shook her head.

“Shell companies. A whole floor under my name would be incredibly questionable.”

Genji hummed his acknowledgement before turning his attention back to the road. In the reflection in the window, he cautiously watched Zarya pull out her phone and begin working on it.

“How did you acquire your company?” He treaded lightly, recognizing the sensitive nature of the question.

“How do you think I did?” she countered, her eyes not straying from her phone.

“There’s many rumors.”

She said nothing.

He frowned at that.

“Some say that you stole it from a millionaire during the Omnic Crisis. Forced him to sign over his business or else you’d kill him,” he mused, his heart racing. _Then you killed him anyway._

“Do you think I’d do that?” she turned to him finally, her eyebrow raised. He paused before continuing.

“No. You’re not the type.” She smiled before turning back to her business. “The other rumor is that you saved the old man. And he gave you his business as a gift.” Her smile faltered as she stopped tapping her phone to stare into empty space.

In that moment, Genji watched as her face seemed to age, small creases showing up under her eyes. The bags under her eyes became deeper as the stiffness in her back relaxed.

In his line of work, veterans of war and the Omnic Crisis tended to command some respect when they arrived in the bars and the pubs. They’d earn a toast and a pint on the house. Some day, he mused, he would have to bring her to a bar and give her the same treatment.

“I saved his daughter,” she answered, her voice soft and edgeless as she set her phone on her lap. “It was as the Omnic Crisis was winding down. She was six.”

“And in exchange he gave you his company?” The incredulous nature of the question earned a tip of the head from Zarya.

“He took me under his wing. He taught me how to operate his business and I lead the company now,” she explained.

“What of the daughter?”

“She died a few months later,” she said gravely. “With no heir, he chose to deliver the company to me.” A pause. “He did so happily. He lives abroad now. Out of the public eye.”

“I see,” Genji nodded slowly, still unsure about the story.

“He sends postcards.” And back to the phone.

* * *

 

When they pulled up to the building, Genji turned to Zarya and pointed out the windshield.

“Why are we approaching from the service entrance?” he asked, glancing around at the civilians and service workers milling about, dressed in various uniforms. Quietly, the driver pressed a button and the tint on the windows darkened heavily. From inside, Genji could barely see out.

“Privacy. Otherwise, people would be concerned about a CEO walking in and out of the same building repeatedly when the only offices she owns in it are minor,” Zarya explained. On second glance, Genji noticed her leg bobbing up and down. Her eyes darted in his direction before dashing away.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, a deep sense of panic setting in as she bit her lip.

“No,” she said. Her assurances were poorly delivered. “We…. I have to tell you something.”

He clenched his fists, frowning as he tried to puzzle out her meaning. The car entered the building, passing by the various parked cars of the employees.

“We didn’t just pull documents from the rubble.” She gritted her teeth and avoided his gaze, missing the way his shoulders froze and his visor locked on her.

_“Bastion units are sweeping in!” Through the roar of gunfire, Genji could hear the screaming of the soldiers outside._

_“Get everyone out!”_

The driver silently eased them down a service tunnel and into a small, empty lot. He parked the car with a practiced ease. Before Genji could say anything, Zarya got out of the car, prompting him to exit as well. He chased after the woman at a brisk pace, catching up to her at the nearby elevator.

“Shall I wait for you, ma’am?” the driver asked, standing by his door.

“Yes please,” Zarya said, waving her hand to him as he nodded and pulled out his phone to idly mess about in wait.

“What do you mean by that?” Genji demanded, standing next to his employer as she pressed the elevator button. He was met with a wall of silence, his emotions churning as his fingers pushed indents in the synthetic flesh on his palms. The only hint that she’d recognized his question was in the tortured manner she tightened her fists.

The torturous quiet continued as they stepped into the elevator.

“I need you to stay calm,” Zarya clenched her teeth as she pushed the words out.

The elevator ride passed in an agonizingly slow hum.

“What do you mean by that?” Genji whispered, his voice unable to muster anything above a soft mutter. His breath caught in his throat on something he hadn’t felt in months; Hope.

“Just don’t do anything you won’t regret.”

The doors slid open.

The room was cavernous. To the left was a line of various vehicles, from motorcycles to luxury cars that were each worth more than the Snowbursts in Genji’s pocket. Next to them was a large garage door, presumably to some part of the main garage. To the right was a set of practice robots, set up to rebuild themselves shortly after being destroyed, with a doorway against the wall to a living area with a set of private quarters for the mercs. At the far center wall was a target range, all of the targets marked with several scorch marks and bullet holes. In the center of the room was a large circular plate on the ground, likely used for some holographic display, but it remained unlit.

Genji would not recognize any of this until the next day, when he came out for a cup of tea with a morning dose of two Snowbursts to avoid the morning headaches and daymares and two painkillers.

Instead, he recognized the tall man in the practice range. More accurately, he recognized his rifle, a modified version of the modern pulse rifle. Originally only in prototype, he had acquired it early on in his business. Of course, his gun shouldn’t have existed at this point. Given that he should have been dead as well.

But as he turned to face the elevator, his bright blue eyes and his sharp blonde hair with the occasional silver strand that Genji would never bring up for the rest of their career together, for fear of death, Genji couldn’t believe what he saw.

And then he saw red and the feeling in his chest turned from hope to rage.

“JACK!” he roared. Before Zarya could say anything, Genji had leaped out of the elevator, his wakizashi drawn. In a blink of an eye, he had crossed the space and, if he had been allowed to continue, the blade would have taken a chunk out of Jack’s side, but on its way to meet flesh, Jack raised his gun and shot its edge, blasting it from Genji’s grip. Snarling, Genji pulled out the spare kunai he kept in a hidden slot on his side and brought it down on Jack’s head.

Acting quickly, Jack brought his rifle up and blocked Genji’s swipe by his forearm. With a quick clipping motion to the right, he knocked the kunai from Genji’s hand and, redirecting the swing, bashed him in the stomach. While his abdomen was plated, Genji still felt the breath leave his chest, but he was too blinded by rage to stop.

As he jumped backwards, he pulled his shuriken from his holder on his wrist and threw them in one fan swipe, each one dead on aiming for Jack’s chest, but were quickly deflected as they clattered harmlessly against his rifle, raised up as a shield. Realizing the futility of the approach, he holstered his weapons and settled for his fists. With a quick leap into the fray, he discarded all of his combat training in his anger and aimed for his target’s gut with a clumsy swing. As Jack quickly discarded his rifle, he turned on his quarry by jumping forward to disrupt the punch and landing a counter along his face, the sound loud and painful as it stopped Genji dead in his tracks.

“You’re slow, kid,” he muttered, remorse filling his voice.

Provoked by Jack’s words and running on blind rage and instinct, Genji drew one shuriken, using it as a makeshift shiv in an attempt to stab Jack in his gut. Realizing his intention, Jack took the initiative, drew his other fist up, and landed another blow along Genji’s head, sending his visor clattering away and his body limp as he began falling, the shuriken dropping from his hand.

But before the fight could conclude itself on its own, both fighters found themselves frozen as Zarya gripped Jack’s arm with one of her arms and Genji felt his armed hand gripped tightly.

Zarya had quickly sprinted between the two as soon as she saw the fight turn unarmed. As Jack held his hands up in surrender, she released his arm.

“Enough. You will be working together, I trust you two to act in a professional manner,” she cautioned them.

“I have no problem with it,” Jack said, his voice gravely as he flexed his fists. Only then did Zarya notice his fists were dripping blood from the hard impact on the cyborg’s armor. “He swung first.”

“We’ll straighten him out,” she assured him.

“I hope so,” he replied, picking up his rifle and walking to the range again, prepared to set it in his case and head back to his room.

As Zarya turned towards her new hire, she noticed his relaxed body and his closed eyes. For a second, she panicked and pulled his arm up to lay him down on his back. His face was slightly discolored from the fight and a trail of blood dripped out of his nose. The anxiety intensified for a second when she saw his scars and a faint burn marks around his eyes, but they appeared aged compared to the new bruising. With no reliable way to check his pulse, she set her finger under his nose and sighed in relief as she felt his breath along it.

“You knocked him out,” she called out.

“It was the only way to get him to stop,” he replied, clicking his case shut as he pulled it off the weapons table.

Sighing, Zarya reached over and grabbed his mask, realized she didn’t know how to set it back on, and gripped it tight in one hand as she pulled him onto her shoulder. The blood trailed along her suit, but she didn’t care as she started to call for help getting Genji’s weapons.

“I’ve got it,” a deep voice called from behind her. Glancing backward, she noted the Latino man as he reached down and picked up Genji’s wakizashi, his shuriken and kunai already in hand, even the one that had dropped near Zarya.

“Gabriel, you surprised me,” she sighed. “I didn’t hear you.”

“Good,” he smirked. As he sent a sharp nod to Jack, who replied in kind, he walked over to Zarya and raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to hire him?”

“Yes,” Zarya said confidently.

At that, Reyes said nothing. Despite his black hoodie and striped sweatpants, he still gave off a dangerous vibe as he started the walk towards the living quarters.

“Who is he?” he asked, squinting as he shot a glance over his shoulder towards the cyborg.

“Jack and… Angela’s rescue,” she said, her painful pause on the doctor’s name heavy. “Genji Shimada.”

“You think we can trust a Shimada?” Gabriel snarled, baring his teeth as his brows dipped. “They’ve caused us nothing but trouble. I’m surprised Jack and Angela rescued him at all.”

“I checked with my contacts, he was disowned by the family. He should be dead,” Zarya assured him, taking a moment to look at the young man with compassion. “And I’ve been watching him for the past few months. He’ll do the job.” She paused. “Jack think so too.”

“You’re the boss,” he replied, his voice laden with hesitation and mild distaste. The argument settled, they walked Genji’s room and tapped the door’s panel to slide open the door.

With the light turned off, it was almost impossible to see anything inside as the two entered. Zarya set the young man’s body on the bed, briefly questioning whether or not to drape the blanket over him before settling with no. Gabriel set his weapons on the nearby desk, barely illuminated by the outside lights.

“What’s he so angry with Jack about anyway?” Gabriel whispered. “He’s annoying enough to earn a punch, but not a fight like that.”

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Zarya said, crossing her arms as she took in the resting ninja and ignored the jab at the other soldier. “I’ll ask him tomorrow before I have him meet Jack again.”

“Good. We need it sorted out as soon as possible.” Gabriel marched to the door and leaned on the frame, turning and crossing his arms to face his employer. “Coming?”

Zarya grunted, walking to join the soldier. She froze when she heard a soft voice behind her.

“Her name was Angela Ziegler.”

Genji opened his eyes slowly and gritted his teeth, his head pulsing with pain, the source either his condition or Jack’s fists. With a small wince as he tried to lift his neck, he settled with lying on his back.

“And Jack left her behind.” The words were soft, but the bitterness in them soured and darkened the entire room.

Zarya turned, her heart breaking as she caught sight of the hurt look on the Japanese man’s face. His chest broiled with the desire to cry, but his honor kept the tears back. Instead, he pulled his fists tight as he gripped the blankets with enough force to make the stitches almost tear apart.

“We searched the ruins,” she said lamely, trying to get the truth out. “The other bodies were too…. They were unsalvageable.” She clutched his mask in both hands, her knuckles turning bone white. “I couldn’t save her.” The words were an admission of guilt as much as any other confession.

Genji closed his eyes as the tears began running down the sides of his face. He fought back the need to scream as his scars ached like the day they were made.

_“Jack told me your name was Genji.”_

_“Yes ma’am.”_

_“That’s a lovely name.”_

_Her smile was the brightest sight he had ever seen. And he knew, for the rest of his life, he would never see a more beautiful sight than that._

_He felt happy._

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Zarya looked to the ground, her visage hidden in the shadow.

He felt dead.

With a soft throw, Zarya tossed Genji’s mask onto the bed. Gabriel’s stern gaze had fallen soft as his eyes were downcast in silent reverence for the late doctor. He read the situation well, grabbing Zarya’s shoulder lightly. The two left the room and shut the door silently.

Somewhere in the room was a digital clock, emulating its analog counterpart with its ticks. A few ticks passed.

Genji’s hands pulled up to his head as he balled his fists on his metallic forehead. His tears gushed fresh from his eyes as he arched his back, the motion painful but no more painful than what he felt in his chest. His voice cracked a few times as he let out a long, guttural scream to the roof of his room. Images flooded back to him, of a bright, blonde woman, her hand resting in his, her fingers massaging him slowly and assuredly. His fist smashed the metal plating along his forehead repeatedly, trying desperately to silence his mind as he remembered everything in painful, agonizing clarity.

He curled into a ball and continued to scream until his voice grew hoarse. Sometime later, he pulled the Snowbursts from his pockets and swallowed two desperately in an attempt to escape. Sleep grabbed him quickly when the drugs kicked in, but the pain followed him into his dreams.

He dreamt of bullets, blood, and a beautiful woman who he would never see again.


	3. To Learn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two things to mention here.  
> One: School has started for me, so I will most likely take a longer period of time to write these chapters. That being said, this one probably took more work compared to the previous two, simply because I was forced to do some planning ahead.  
> Two: I MIGHT edit very minor things about this chapter as the story advances if I realize any flaws with the blueprint I've laid out. If I do, I will always add a note in the next chapter about what has been changed.

The first thing Genji felt when he woke up was an ungodly amount of pain in his head.

Lying on his stomach, he sighed into the pillow and flexed his back slightly, rotating his shoulder blades. As he twisted his neck in an attempt to lift his face from the cushion, he groaned loudly as his neck popped and the seed of pain in his temple blossomed further across his face. Lifting his arm was fortunately less strenuous on his body, so he took a moment to bring his right hand up and try to massage the pain out. He gently dropped his face back on the pillow to relieve tension on his neck, only to recoil and spring his head back up as he noticed the slightly cold splotch of blood on his pillow. With a quick dab to his nose, he noted the peeling blood and sighed softly.

“Fuck,” he muttered. _I’ll have to buy a new pillow._

He rolled himself to his left, his ribs creaking and his head still whining, and reached off of the bed for his bag of drugs before letting out a tremendous yelp as he fell off the bed and hit the ground. His pained whimper sounded resoundingly pathetic when it echoed back to his ears.

“Why the fuck?” he groaned, looking around the room before it hit him that he was not in his apartment. Over the span of five minutes, he somehow managed to position himself into a sitting position against the bed. He spent a few more minutes focusing on his breathing to drown out the pain before looking around for some source of light. When his eyes caught the small lamp on the nightstand, he reached up and flipped the switch at its base, igniting both it and lamp on the other end of the bed in a yellowish light.

The room was modestly furnished, which meant it was automatically leagues better than what Genji had spent his time in previously. On one end was a desk, which had the various weapons Genji had used during the fight yesterday, courtesy of Gabriel, with a small desk lamp and various office supplies on it. On a bookshelf above it was a set of books whose titles were too small for him to read, as the bed was on the opposite side of the bed to him. On his end, a short way in front of him, was the doorway to a private bathroom, right next to a small closet with a set of various clothes that he was certain did not belong to him. The foot of the bed pointed to the exit to the common area he’d barely noticed when Zarya had carried him into the room, but what he was more interested in was the clock that was hung next to it, its digital face lit up in a dim blue that lit up its time a little brighter when he faced it.

 _11:30 AM, eh?_ he thought as he turned back to the bed. The last thing he recalled was taking his Snowbursts, which, as his heartrate jumped in anxiety, he realized the dose was beginning to wear off.

He reached up onto the bed, fumbling over the blankets before, thanks to some luck, he found the plastic bag near him and pulled out a pill. Standing up and gritting his teeth through the pain, he walked over to the bathroom, flicking the switch for the lights on. He turned on the sink and quickly cupped one of his hands under the faucet, sipping the water into his mouth and tossing the pill in. In one gulp, he swallowed all of it, tasting the iron of blood that had trickled onto his lips and sighing as he looked into the mirror and froze.

Some days, his mind recognized his real body. Others, like this one, there was some disconnect between his mind and his synthetic flesh. He tried to avoid looking at the metal plating under his slightly bloodied sweatshirt, focusing only on his face. With slow motions, he dabbed his fingers in the water and wiping away the blood trail and splotches on his metal jaw and under his eye. When his face was clean, save for the slightly yellowed bruise along the side of his face where Jack had laid his fist along him, and the sink was marked with a slightly pink tinge, he turned his face downward, quickly washing away the vestiges of blood. Then he turned his attention to his sweatshirt.

Something stopped him from pulling the sweatshirt off then and there. He looked up at the mirror briefly before back down and sighing. As he turned away from the mirror, he pulled the sweatshirt off, stepped out of his pants, and, without looking back at his reflection, he walked out of the bathroom and flicked the light off.

_“You have to get used to your body, or else the headaches will never leave,” Angela said, running her hand down Genji’s back as he gritted his teeth in pain._

He tossed his dirty clothes in a small pile next to the closet and crossed his arms in front of the foreign attire in his closet. With a quick glance, he realized that everything was, somehow, in his size and smiled at the small victory before picking out a black shirt with a white hash graphic in its corner and a pair of dark gray khakis. For now, he forewent his mask as he decided that the search for coffee and painkillers would be more important.

Walking out of his room, he surveyed the common area and sighed internally when he realized no one else was in the room. In the center of the room was a couple of couches and a metal table between them. Next to the couch setup was ping pong table which, from the scuffs on the corner and the fading of its paint, had seen a remarkable amount of play, and past them was a small kitchen with a coffee maker. Locking onto the device, he made a beeline for the kitchen and stood in front of it, only to frown and squint as he suddenly realized that he had no idea how to operate it. As he let out a small grunt in annoyance, a male Russian voice sounded out.

“Hello Genji,” the voice said, speaking from the ceiling and startling the cyborg ninja. “My name is Mikhail, artificial intelligence that operates this compound. Welcome.”

Genji took a moment to absorb the information before cautiously replying with a soft “Hello.”

“Do you need a coffee?” the voice asked.

Immediately, Genji liked Mikhail.

“Do you have painkillers somewhere?” Genji requested after acquiring coffee with the help of Mikhail, sipping the drink and noting that it was probably the best coffee he’d had in a very long time.

“Check behind your bathroom mirror.”

With a quick walk over, he picked up a couple of painkillers and Snowbursts, just in case he saw Jack again, and walked back out to the common area and jumping back.

“You’re up late,” the Latino man mused, flipping through his book as he sat on the couch. He threw a glance over his shoulder and sent a withering gaze to the young man.

With nothing to say, Genji nervously looked around the common area before Gabriel broke the silence with a sigh, shutting his book and standing up. Now that he stood at his full height, Genji noted that Reyes was slightly taller than him. He wore a black camo shirt with and a similar set of dark khakis, but his defining features were his face. There were a sizeable number of scars scattered around his face, while his jaw was covered with a mustache and beard that gave him a gruff and almost perpetually angry look. Completing the ensemble was a black beanie that was pulled firmly onto his head.

“Gabriel Reyes. I’ll be working with you,” he said, setting his book in his black sweatshirt pocket and walking over. He raised a hand to Genji, who set the pills in his pocket and returned the gesture.

“Genji Shimada.” Reyes’s face had a subtle reaction as Genji said the name “Shimada,” so he carefully added, “But call me Genji.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gabriel nodded. “Call me Reyes.”

Genji looked over Gabriel’s shoulder, trying to get a glance outside to check the target area, but Gabriel shook his head.

“Jack’s not here. He’s out for now, doing Zarya’s work,” he explained. Genji tensed up, uncertain what Reyes knew or saw. Reading his mind, Gabriel continued, “I saw your fight.” He smirked. “I hope I don’t have to teach you how to fight with your fists.”

“No,” Genji stammered, trying to defend himself. “I wasn’t-“

“I know, sometimes you just gotta punch him in his pretty boy face,” Reyes’ smirk deepened, a hint of malice in the corner of his mouth before he patted Genji on his shoulder and turned around to walk outside. “C’mon. Zarya told me to fill you in on the mission.”

Genji quickly followed him out, pulling out his pills and downing them with a swig of coffee before finally getting a glance around the area.

“We’ll start with a brief on what we’ll be facing. Mikhail, queue up slides 3, 4, and 5 of the Vishkar building,” Reyes shouted, looking towards the ceiling. “Display 3 on the holodeck.”

“Yes sir,” Mikhail replied. A second later, a hologram of the building showed up over the disc in the center of the main room. With a flick of his hand, Reyes ushered Genji over and crossed his arms.

“What did Zarya tell you about the job?”

“Only that I’ll be infiltrating the building and destroying their servers,” Genji said, his brain starting to wake up as he sipped the coffee. “And maybe the whole building.” _How I’m to do this was very curiously left out._

“Sounds about right,” Reyes nodded, rubbing a hand over his stubble as he turned his attention to the screen. “We’ll be aiming for the server room in the basement of the Vishkar building.” As he said it, the section of the building lit up red under the building. “We know the program is somewhere down there, but there’s no way for us to place it without being inside. So once we get in the server room, we’ll access the computers to try and find it. If it’s in the room, we can wreck it there. If not, we should be able to make our way to it. Worst case scenario, if we can’t find it, we can spread out and cover the most area. We have two espionage experts for a reason.”

Genji would have asked who the second was if he wasn’t scared of the reaction that would likely come from Reyes.

“We’ll be armed with a kill program that we’ll push into the servers to wipe their omnic control program.” Gabriel turned to Genji. “Any questions so far?”

“They won’t be able to detect us tampering with the servers?” he asked, sipping his coffee. “Or be able to trace it back to us?”

“Supposedly, the program is discrete enough and won’t be traced,” Reyes said, although it seemed clear to Genji that he had also been concerned with the issue at one point and he had not received the answer he wanted.

“Nothing besides that.” Genji was tempted to add a “sir” to the end, but he decided against it.

“Well, that’s where all the good news ends. Security on the building is rock solid.” Gabriel’s face turned slightly dark as he turned up to the ceiling. “Mikhail, slide 4.”

The screen changed to what appeared to be a hologram of the basement of the building. What concerned Genji, earning a furrowed brow from the ninja, was the fact that in many sections, there were swathes of the area missing.

“This is all we know about the underground. The blueprints are locked up tight,” Reyes said gravely. “We have some ideas as to what’s down there, between analysis of other Vishkar buildings and their rejected blueprints for this one, combined with some reports, but we don’t know exactly what the layout of the basement is.”

“So we’re walking in blind,” Genji said, a sense of dread crawling up his back.

“Only partially. But yes. That’s problem number one,” Reyes sighed, holding a finger up in recognition. “Problem number two is even more annoying. Mikhail, slide 5.”

What appeared next was a small square room with a camera at every corner on the ceiling and doors taking up the entirety of the front and back walls, both doors set with a panel. On the sides was a set of four holes, arranged in a square. The room appeared relatively harmless, at first glance.

As Genji looked closer, that dread in the back of his mind magnified twofold. Under his breath, he swore in Japanese.

“This is a Vishkar checkpoint,” Reyes explained. “There’s one set up to enter the basement, another somewhere in the basement that we haven’t been able to identify, and a last one before you enter the server room.”

“I hope that’s all,” Genji frowned.

“’Fraid not,” Reyes shook his head. “We’re guessing there’s more checkpoints that we might cross to get to the program, but we’re not sure.”

“What’s in it?” He braced for the worst.

“They’re manned by two people, one on each end. These panels are keycard scanners. The cameras compare the occupant with a picture in their database. The holes on the side are simple biometrics, they check body heat and heart rate for anything suspicious.” Reyes pointed out each feature as he listed them off.

“Is there anything good about the building?” Genji muttered, irritation heavy in his tone.

Gabriel’s response was to simply sigh and shake his head.

“That’s the main overview of what you and I are up against.” While Genji bit his lip and looked at the checkpoint, beginning to pace around the hologram to get a better view, Reyes simply watched him, waiting for questions and analyzing the young man.

After a few seconds of silence, Genji began the questions.

“Can we disguise as one of the computer scientists, get to the servers that way?”

“Unlikely. Cameras and biometrics pick out any flaw and voice recognition tags us.”

“Can we hack it?”

“Not remotely and the personnel will bust us if we’re too suspicious.”

“Knock the power out.”

“They have backup generators.”

While Genji swore under his breath in Japanese, Reyes simply squinted his eyes, but remained stoic. As Genji continued pacing and the gears of his mind whirled, Gabriel couldn’t stay silent.

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about what Jack will do here,” he stated, speaking as neutrally as he could.

Genji froze.

Last night’s events swirled into his mind again as his body wilted. His face twinged in pain as he remembered the right cross that Jack had thrown at him. The taste of blood ghosted over his tongue for a second as he absently rubbed a hand over his temple. And then there was the mere thought that Jack was alive. Last time he saw him before yesterday…

Genji shivered as he shut out the memories before it was too late. With a soft exhale through his nose, he steadied himself and straightened his back in an attempt to appear more professional.

“I didn’t realize he was part of the team,” Genji admitted, looking back up to see Reyes staring at him. He still held the same strong gaze, but he was poor at hiding his worry for his associate. Genji tried to regain his composure through professionalism as he said, “He has minimal training in stealth and espionage.”

“Be that as it may, he has a very key role to play in this,” Reyes admitted. Waving one of his hands, he continued. “Enough question time. Let’s go over the plan. Mikhail, slide 3. “

* * *

 

“This is insane,” Genji stated, not as an opinion but as a fact.

“I agree,” Reyes shot back, the smirk returning as he let out a short laugh. “Mikhail, turn off the holodeck.” The blue hologram shut off with a small “Yes sir” from the AI.

“How are we expected to pull this off?” Genji said, running a hand over his metal head and lamenting his lack of hair. “There’s too many ways this could go wrong.”

“We’ll have to practice, then.” Reyes gestured to the targets and the training bots. “You’ll need to learn to pickpocket and make sure you can shadow targets properly. How’s your Chinese?”

Before Genji could respond, though, the elevator doors opened.

“Genji!” Zarya shouted, striding out from the elevator. Her business suit remained the same, although Genji had noticed that she had put on a pink tie to go with her hair. She threw a paper bag in his direction, which he caught deftly and opened it up.

On the bottom, smiling up at him was a small fortune in the form of Snowbursts, wrapped up in a plastic bag within the paper.

“This is more than I need,” he called back, his brow furrowing.

“I thought having an excess wouldn’t hurt.” Zarya gave him a stern look, trying to send a message, as Jack walked out of the elevator behind her.

His garb was very different from what he was dressed in last night. Genji barely remembered it, given he had been blinded by rage. Last night, if he thought back, Jack was dressed in a black shirt and a black sweats. This time, he was dressed in a suit as sharp as their employer with a dark red tie, a discrete earbud hiding in his ear.

Genji’s fists clenched.

“Thank you,” he said robotically, bowing his head in a tense nod. An acid pit opened up in his chest, burning through him as he tried to keep his focus.

Glancing behind him, Zarya nodded and said, “No problem. I take it Gabriel filled you in on the details?” Silently, Jack walked behind her and began towards Genji and Reyes. Genji could have sworn, in that moment, he smelled something burning, but he did nothing to give it away as the acid made its way up to his neck as he focused on his breathing. He noted Jack’s bandaged fists, but quickly filed away the information to avoid thinking of him as much as possible.

“Indeed.” Genji focused his gaze on Zarya as Jack grew closer. His teeth gritted together as anger rose up in him again, accompanied by something else. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Zarya seemed determined to keep his attention as he began tasting bile in the back of his mouth.

“It is not our best plan,” she admitted. “But it is our only plan.”

“It shows,” Genji muttered, his strained focus impairing his judgement, but if Zarya was offended by the statement, she didn’t show it as Jack passed Genji without a word.

In his mind, Genji saw an image of him ripped out his kunai and planted it in Jack’s neck before he could react, ending the job but lifting the boiling pit of spite in his chest. But simultaneously, another image rushed him, of him with his head to the ground, facing Jack with tears in his eyes rushed to his mind as he felt water budding up at the corners of his eyes.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Zarya nodded, letting out a deep breath with a quiet exhale as she turned away and proceeded back towards the elevator.

Genji identified the emotion deep in him as Jack entered the living area and passed into his room.

Shame.


End file.
